Nudism
A chaste and holy life condemns nudism[edit]
"Such a chaste and holy life...condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, the practices of nudism and of companionate marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses."
Preaching of nudism is one of the outstanding characteristics of a decadent society[edit]
"...the extension of the influence and activities of those "prophets of decadence" who advocate companionate marriage, who preach the philosophy of nudism, who call modesty an intellectual fiction, who refuse to regard the procreation of children as the sacred and primary purpose of marriage, who denounce religion as an opiate of the people, who would, if given free rein, lead back the human race to barbarism, chaos, and ultimate extinction--these appear as the outstanding characteristics of a decadent society, a society that must either be reborn or perish.
Avoid mistakes of missionaries in the past and avoid attempting to impose clothing on new believers from "primitive" backgrounds[edit]
"... we noted your decision to place a notice in your Bahá'í newsletter requesting clothing for the new believers, who are described as "primitive".
"It is not clear from the information contained in your Minutes whether your decision to obtain clothing for the new believers is for humanitarian reasons or whether it is your wish to clothe the believers whose tribal custom does not require clothing. If your reasons are humanitarian, certainly the plight of people in great need arouses concern and sympathy in all of us. You should bear in mind, however, that to begin such a program might well endanger the future of the Cause among those people and would affect the motives of other members of the tribe when again offered the bounty of becoming followers of Bahá'u'lláh. Assemblies, either Local or National, must always hold as their first consideration that we, with our limited resources, have the obligation to establish the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, and that while millions of people can support projects such as this one, only Bahá'ís may contribute to the work of the Cause.
"If it is the tribal custom of those believers to remain unclothed, you should avoid taking steps to obtain clothing for them or to request them to wear clothing at this stage in their deepening. The changing of such a custom should be a natural and gradual process, and not an imposed one. We should avoid the mistakes which have been made in the past by missionaries."
- (8 February 1972, the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly, in Cultural Diversity in the Age of Maturity, no. 222)
